Publisher's Synopsis
An Indian rebellion occurred in Sonora during Coronado's expedition in search of El Dorado. Three Spanish conquistadors were reported killed in the uprising, but only two of the bodies were ever accounted for. Did that missing body later cause a strange war between two continents? Serpent Wind is the story of a renegade conquistador, Don Diego de Alcaraz - a.k.a. Carazal. After escaping from the North American wilderness in the early 1540's, he conspires with agents of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent to hijack the entire Spanish treasure fleet - the Flota Plata of 1553 - as it voyaged back to Spain with the gold, silver, and emeralds of the New World. The Flota Plata of 1553 was struck by a violent hurricane just after it transited Havana. Most of the galleons were lost in the tempest, their golden treasures swallowed by the waters of the Gulf of Mexico. Three galleons were shipwrecked on the barrier islands of Texas, with approximately three hundred survivors. Only two of these castaways survived to record the grim fate of the lost treasure fleet for history. Serpent Wind is a fictional tale that weaves through three true stories from the earliest history of North American exploration - the adventure of Cabeza de Vaca, the expedition of Coronado, and the shipwreck of the Spanish treasure fleet of 1553. It also details the bizarre, brutal war that this shipwreck spawned. Serpent Wind provides insights into forgotten episodes from American history, and also offers intriguing perspectives on issues of cultural conflict. Ultimately, Serpent Wind is a literary tale of primitive justice, from the earliest recorded history of the land we call Texas.
